Max Randall shows how to read a dog's panting to catch heat stress before it becomes dangerous. When a dog's tongue starts curling back into its mouth during panting, that's the sign it's overheating and needs an immediate break. A boxer in 24°C heat showed this warning sign after just 15 minutes of indoor training.
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All dogs pant when they're hot, but there's one very specific moment where a bit warm becomes medical emergency. So here's how to tell if your dog is fucking boiling. Hi, I'm Max Randall and welcome to day 8 of the summer series, collecting a nugget of value each day until you can confidently lead your dog through summer. And here's everything you need to know about panting or telling how how hot your dog is. So I don't know if you realize, but dogs' tongues are massive compared to the size of their body. And this is what makes panting a really good way of losing heat. The more that tongue is hanging out, the more heat can escape the body. And this is because dogs are not covered in sweat glands like we are. We are very wet, moisty, slippery things. So the typical rule of thumb is that the further the tongue is hanging out, the hotter the dog is. However, there's more. This video is Enzo with his tongue all the way out, but he's not to the point of overheating or getting heat stroke. There is one key thing to look for in panting, and it's this: the tongue is now starting to curl back into the mouth. This is the point where the dog is becoming very hot and bothered, and this is a dog that definitely needs a break. Like, definitely needs one. And this is something that the trainers at the AVD trials should have looked for before that dog died. And this is an important thing to read rather than just looking at the temperature on your weather app, because this is a boxer I was working with recently in 24-degree heat, but indoors I was fine, but after 15 minutes of training he got hot and bothered. So just like we learned about recently, some dogs are just really bad in the heat, some dogs are bad when it's warm. So just be aware of this stuff. But what are the early signs of heat stroke? Because we can't just rely on panting and put all our eggs in that basket. I'll see you tomorrow morning to learn that.
